Sharing Resources
I considered adding it to the Keys Project but relented
It is very easy to add too much…WhaJaThink?
Here say https://www.ispotnature.org/communities/uk-and-ireland/view/project/845442/
It’s not a KEY as far as I could tell.
I agree, which is why I relented, but not everything in that project is a Key, some is just resource
i could write a project called Shared resourse which might, for example, have Photography as an entry or, say, how, why and where to report Pollution, perhaps advice about useful phone Apps etc…
I agree with what has been said. I don’t think that eBird is in the same category as, say, a guide to the Miridae. But it is nontheless a very useful resource.
I love the idea of a place where people can pool their knowledge of wildlife photography. I’ve been doing it for 20 years and still am a novice!!
Existing or Community projects are not loved very much here - I KNOW!
I came across this website while searching for a slime mould.
If some slime-moulders would care to have a look and see if it’s worthy of inclusion here ( i.e accurate), then it could be a useful part of our Shared Resources.
That’s lovely. I have added it to the Slimes resource, it will show soon https://www.ispotnature.org/communities/uk-and-ireland/view/project/777371/ (preview removed from here)
That’s a great photo collection with good notes, thanks for locating @JoC
It has what look like useful material on some Didymium which are commonly queried on iSpot.
I am really inspired by the Link given us by JoC.
It remnds me how impatient we all are; all so eager to show our single photos, that we forget how useful time-lapse (days or weeks or months or weather) might be to the data in iSpot.
I must say that the photographs are amazing, and Barry clearly knows his slime moulds!
See for example: http://www.bucksfungusgroup.org.uk/Pictures/Finds/Arcyria%20denudata%20Burnham%20Beeches%2012.10.20%20BW.jpg
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A good resource for Slugs in Eversham’s key:
Shame it only covers the 50 most consipicuous species!
I’m intrigued; a recent FSC course suggested less than 50 in total.
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Tempted to get that FSC book, JoC, thx.
Look here before you do!
perhaps the OU might give us tokens for Christmas
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Yes, I see FSC ran a course at least once on using microscopes as an adjunct to using their AIDGAP guide to Slugs of Britain and Ireland, I do remember looking at it.
I have that book( c £15, c140 pp, colour illustrations and photos) following a previous communication with Santa, and I consult it from time to time. It is an intricate subject and as everyone here will know better than I, these creatures are harder to identify than one might at first think !! Attempting to add photos of a couple of pages, those relating to Limax maximus, for interest.
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Thx, Mags and Dejay for the link and previews 
The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) in Northern Ireland has published a new illustrated introduction to grassland fungi. Here is a link to the article including the link to the free downloadable resource, here:-
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Much of what appears above, as valuable as it is, is not seen by many users.
This has been running for quite a while and, equally, is hardly ever ‘opened’
I will go back through the entries here (above) and ADD those that seem specially.
I am VERY conscious of the need to Cross-refer entries but that is proving too difficult
Isopods : some comments arising from this ispot post:
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In order to identify Isopods (and many other marine invertebrates) an understanding of the terminology is needed. This annotated diagram has many of the terms, though the pereopods, (the ‘legs’) are not shown or named.
Isopod diagram
https://lanwebs.lander.edu/faculty/rsfox/invertebrates/armadillidium.html
This link also has good diagrams to show the difference between Oniscus, Porcello & Ligia.
The key in Ryland and Hayward requires details not easily visible in this post as it is “difficult to see half-submerged details”.
However, even if they could be seen they might not allow identification beyond the Family Janiridae because only males can be identified. Dave Fenwick explains that here: I have copied some extracts below.
Investigations into the little known and under-recorded genus Jaera (ISOPODA) in Cornwall. by David Fenwick
A good sample is needed, ideally one over twenty specimens, I say this because at Hannafore, Looe, I collected about twenty specimens only to find all were female. As I’ve already said, females cannot be used to identify the species, it is only the males that are useful. Males can be separated from females visually, they are usually smaller and darker than the females, but juvenile females of similar size to males require a stereomicroscope to help remove them from the sample. In any one sample, there will likely be more females than males, and many of the females collected will were (sic) berried, and will have either eggs or developing young in their brood pouch, it is best practice to return females as soon as possible. A greenish tint can usually be seen on the dorsal surface of sexually mature females, this is the colour of the eggs and developing young.
And from the Conclusion
Members of the genus Jaera are extremely easy to collect and commonly occur on the shore in wet areas, in areas of either freshwater or seawater seepage.
The reason they are not recorded more often is due to the fact that Jaera cannot reliably be identified in-situ on the shore, but sexing individuals ‘might’ be possible with a magnifying glass, loupe or head magnifier. Specimens really need to be taken away, sorted, and examined under a microscope.
The process of identification is therefore complex and beyond the scope of Citizen Scientists / recorders who do not own microscopes, but this should not prohibit their collection and sending to people who can identify them.
,
I think that, on balance the Jaera albifrons group of 4 UK species is a likely ID, but I cannot exclude Jaera normanni nor Janira maculosa from the information we can see.
Dave Fenwick says these are easy to collect, “I’d just pick up a suitable rock and wash it in a bucket before replacing it in the same position it came from, this saved time on visually looking for them.”
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